A device for monitoring roller bearings is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,736 A. The device is provided for recognizing and monitoring damage on raceways or adjoining regions of the bearing rings, wherein one or more sensors are arranged in the roller body installation space between the roller bodies and transmit measuring signals electromagnetically to an antenna arranged outside the bearing housing.
A method and a device for ultrasonic examination of a gearwheel in a transmission are known from U.S. Pat. No. 8,181,528 B2. To examine cracks in particular, an ultrasonic measuring head is placed on the external surface of the gearwheel and moved around the bearing along the external surface. The ultrasonic measuring head can be configured as a phased-array measuring head, wherein the measurement takes place from multiple directions.
A large roller bearing is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,677 A, in which a receptacle for an ultrasonic probe is formed in one ring and the other ring has a coupling surface configured such that a simple and reliable ultrasonic measurement system is arranged. The revolving coupling surface reflects the introduced ultrasonic power.
In an article by G. Splitt and G. Kaut “Phased Arrays—Eine zeitgemäße Lösung von Prufaufgaben in der ZFT [a timely solution of testing tasks in the ZFT]”, from the DGZFP annual conference 2001, nondestructive material testing in Berlin, 21 to 25 May 2001, the use of phased-array measuring heads is discussed for ultrasonic testing. In this case, it is shown on the basis of examples from practice which advantages the use of phased-array measuring heads have, wherein solely electronic scanning of the test subject in one direction is represented as a particular advantage in relation to the movement of measuring head and test subject required in the conventional testing technology.
In the configuration of large roller bearings for wind turbines, a variety of different aspects are to be taken into consideration in the configuration of the bearing. The structural introduction of coupling surfaces into the large roller bearing for the use of an ultrasonic examination is generally very complex in this case and is linked to a substantial expenditure.